Schools.K-12 – AFSCME Privatization Updatehttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate
Information on the latest activities, problems, and issues in the contracting out of public servicesWed, 16 Aug 2017 23:19:10 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5124494553Betsy DeVos’ 6-month report card: More undoing than doinghttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/08/trumps-school-choice-expansion-plan-may-face-uphill-battle.htm
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 18:31:19 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40016Source: Associated Press, August 10, 2017 Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, the news cycle has been dominated by stories of White House controversy: a travel ban, North Korea, health care and more. Meanwhile, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been busy fulfilling her conservative agenda that seeks to broaden school choice and market-based […]

Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, the news cycle has been dominated by stories of White House controversy: a travel ban, North Korea, health care and more. Meanwhile, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been busy fulfilling her conservative agenda that seeks to broaden school choice and market-based schooling in pre-K through higher education. As a researcher of education policy and politics, I’ve been following Secretary DeVos’ first six months in office. Here’s a quick look at what’s she’s done – and what’s been left in limbo. …

How can public education be saved in America? What role does Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos play in the crisis facing America’s public schools? Why do so many Americans believe in the false promises and lies of school privatization and other neoliberal so-called reforms? How are strong American public schools essential for a strong democracy and robust economy? In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of Teachers. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. A longer version can be heard on my podcast, available on Salon’s Featured Audio page. …

Trump and DeVos are among the many opponents of public education who, for more than a decade now, have cast school privatization as a civil rights mission, arguing that vouchers and charters extend opportunity to communities of color. Even many Democrats, while maintaining that education is a public good, have bought into this narrative. But last year, the NAACP and the Movement for Black Lives called for a moratorium on charters, with the former saying the schools exacerbate segregation and destabilize traditional public schools (not least by diverting funds away from them). These civil rights groups, the Times reported, “portray charters as the pet project of foundations financed by white billionaires, and argue that the closing of traditional schools as students migrate to charters has disproportionately disrupted black communities.” …

]]>40016When Privatization Means Segregation: Setting the Record Straight on School Vouchershttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/08/privatization-means-segregation-setting-record-straight-school-vouchers.htm
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:06:27 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41524Source: Leo Casey, Dissent, August 9, 2017 In recent weeks, the issue of private school vouchers has taken center stage in debates over the future of American education. Policy proposals to use public funds for private school tuition vouchers have a long history, dating back to a seminal 1955 essay by Milton Friedman. Over the […]

In recent weeks, the issue of private school vouchers has taken center stage in debates over the future of American education. Policy proposals to use public funds for private school tuition vouchers have a long history, dating back to a seminal 1955 essay by Milton Friedman. Over the last twenty-five years, small voucher programs have been established in several states, including Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin, as well as in Washington, D.C. … Public education advocates have taken on the Trump-DeVos push for vouchers. The liberal Center for American Progress (CAP) issued two important research briefs, Vouchers Are Not A Viable Solution For Wide Swaths of America and The Racist Origins of Private School Vouchers. In her keynote speech to the American Federation of Teachers’ recent biannual education conference and in her Huffington Postcolumn, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten addressed the “past and present” of school vouchers, condemning such programs as “only slightly more polite cousins of segregation.” Both CAP and Weingarten highlighted events around one of the five school desegregation cases that were rolled into the Supreme Court’s historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County.

… In the wake of the CAP reports and Randi Weingarten’s speech, voucher advocates were compelled to respond. Three lines of defense have emerged to dismiss the historic connection between private school vouchers and racial segregation. They are as unconvincing as the original arguments. … Try as privatization advocates might, there is no getting around the segregationist history of school vouchers in the United States. From Milton Friedman to the recalcitrant white elites of Prince Edward County and the legislators they voted in, the forerunners of today’s “school choice” movement understood their freedom as the freedom to deny others an equal education. That history continues into the present: empirical studies of vouchers programs in the United States and internationally show that they increase segregation in schools. As a Trump administration that openly appeals to white racial resentment proposes a massive school voucher program, we would be foolish to ignore the policy’s origins.

… Voucher schemes—such as those backed by President Trump and Secretary DeVos—are fundamentally positioned to funnel taxpayers’ dollars into private schools while draining much-needed resources from public schools and the vulnerable students who attend them. Policymakers must consider the origins of vouchers and their impact on segregation and support for public education. No matter how well intentioned, widespread voucher programs risk exacerbating segregation in schools and leaving the most vulnerable students and the public schools they attend behind.

]]>41524School board rejects plan to privatize food serviceshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/07/school-board-rejects-plan-privatize-food-services.htm
Tue, 18 Jul 2017 20:11:47 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41484Source: Christina Daly, Long Beach Herald, July 13, 2017 The Long Beach Board of Education voted 3-2 to reject a plan to privatize the school district’s lunch program that administrators said would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. At a contentious July 6 meeting, the board rejected a bid by Chartwells, a food- service […]

The Long Beach Board of Education voted 3-2 to reject a plan to privatize the school district’s lunch program that administrators said would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. At a contentious July 6 meeting, the board rejected a bid by Chartwells, a food- service company, to take over the district’s food operations and help fill a budget gap. School officials said the district lost about $400,000 in food services in each of the past two years due to a lack of student participation in the federally funded National School Lunch Program, which partially reimburses the district for lunches that the agency considers healthy. …

]]>41484In Georgia, Citizens Can Redirect Their Taxes to Private Schoolshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/06/public-money-finds-back-door-to-private-schools.htm
http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/06/public-money-finds-back-door-to-private-schools.htm#respondThu, 29 Jun 2017 17:17:36 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2012/05/public-money-finds-back-door-to-private-schools.htmSource: Ty Tagami, Tribune News Service, June 26, 2017 Georgia’s highest court has determined that a state law allowing taxpayers to steer some of what they owe the state to private schools instead does not violate the state constitution. The unanimous ruling Monday by the Georgia Supreme Court strikes a blow against the claim […]

Georgia’s highest court has determined that a state law allowing taxpayers to steer some of what they owe the state to private schools instead does not violate the state constitution. The unanimous ruling Monday by the Georgia Supreme Court strikes a blow against the claim by Raymond Gaddy and other taxpayers that the state law establishing tax credit student scholarships is unconstitutional. … Taxpayers pledge money — up to $1,000 for an individual, $2,500 per married couple and $10,000 for shareholders or owners of businesses (except “C” corporations, which can contribute up to three quarters of their state tax debt) — to specific private schools and get a tax credit off what they owe the state for the same amount. The money passes through nonprofit scholarship organizations that assign it as scholarships to students and keep up to 10 percent as fees.

When the Georgia legislature passed a private school scholarship program in 2008, lawmakers promoted it as a way to give poor children the same education choices as the wealthy. …A handout circulated at the meeting instructed families to donate, qualify for a tax credit and then apply for a scholarship for their own children, many of whom were already attending the school. … The exchange at Gwinnett Christian Academy, a recording of which was obtained by The New York Times, is just one example of how scholarship programs have been twisted to benefit private schools at the expense of the neediest children. Spreading at a time of deep cutbacks in public schools, the programs are operating in eight states and represent one of the fastest-growing components of the school choice movement. This school year alone, the programs redirected nearly $350 million that would have gone into public budgets to pay for private school scholarships for 129,000 students, according to the Alliance for School Choice, an advocacy organization. Legislators in at least nine other states are considering the programs. …. One big proponent of the tax-credit programs is the American Legislative Exchange Council, a coalition of conservative lawmakers and corporations that strongly influences many state legislatures. The council became a flash point in the Trayvon Martin case because it had championed the controversial Stand Your Ground gun laws.

]]>http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/06/public-money-finds-back-door-to-private-schools.htm/feed025564Amherst TM takes action on elementary schoolshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/amherst-tm-takes-action-on-elementary-schools.htm
Wed, 17 May 2017 18:27:28 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41391Source: Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette, May 4, 2017 Town Meeting unanimously agreed to $15.5 million as the town’s share of a $31.3 million budget for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools and $22.5 million budget for the elementary schools. … The budgets also include money to bring the food service program back in-house, which Hazzard said […]

Town Meeting unanimously agreed to $15.5 million as the town’s share of a $31.3 million budget for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools and $22.5 million budget for the elementary schools. … The budgets also include money to bring the food service program back in-house, which Hazzard said will mean better tasting, less processed, more organic and locally sourced foods. …

]]>41391Is charter school fraud the next Enron?http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/is-charter-school-fraud-the-next-enron.htm
Mon, 15 May 2017 15:04:41 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41373Source: Preston Green III, The Conversation, April 27, 2017 … As a scholar who studies the legal and policy issues pertaining to school choice, I’ve observed that the same type of fraud that occurred at Enron has been cropping up in the charter school sector. A handful of school officials have been caught using the Enron […]

… As a scholar who studies the legal and policy issues pertaining to school choice, I’ve observed that the same type of fraud that occurred at Enron has been cropping up in the charter school sector. A handful of school officials have been caught using the Enron playbook to divert funding slated for these schools into their own pockets. … Enron’s downfall was caused largely by something called “related-party transactions.” Understanding this concept is crucial for grasping how charter schools may also be in danger. Related-party transactions are business arrangements between companies with close associations: It could be between two companies owned or managed by the same group or it could be between one large company and a smaller company that it owns. Although related-party transactions are legal, they can create severe conflicts of interest, allowing those in power to profit from employees, investors and even taxpayers.

… Without strict regulation, some bad actors have been able to take advantage of charter schools as an opportunity for private investment. In the worst cases, individuals have been able to use related-party transactions to fraudulently funnel public money intended for charter schools into other business ventures that they control. … Fraudulent related-party transactions can also occur between education management organizations (EMOs) and their affiliates. EMOs are for-profit or nonprofit entities that sometimes manage charter schools, and might also own smaller companies that could provide services to those schools. … Because of insufficient oversight, Fastow’s fraudulent use of related-party transactions at Enron was not stopped until it was too late. Similarly, the Ivy Academia and Renaissance Academy examples reveal insufficient checks and balances in the charter school sector. In both cases, the monitors responsible for protecting charter schools found nothing wrong with the rental agreements. …

]]>41373School board votes down outsourcing custodial serviceshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/petition-circling-to-stop-mat-su-school-district-from-outsourcing-custodial-cafeteria-positions.htm
Mon, 15 May 2017 14:20:00 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41176Source: Chris Ford, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, May 5, 2017 More than two hours into Wednesday evening’s Mat-Su Borough School District’s regular board meeting, the crowd erupted into applause following a vote not to award a more than $4.8 million, three-year contract to NANA Management Services for custodial services. The board heard from about a dozen […]

More than two hours into Wednesday evening’s Mat-Su Borough School District’s regular board meeting, the crowd erupted into applause following a vote not to award a more than $4.8 million, three-year contract to NANA Management Services for custodial services. The board heard from about a dozen individuals on potential budget cuts under consideration as the district continues to wrangle with unknown funding sources as its June 30 deadline to approve a balanced budget nears. Privatizing the service was expected to provide of the largest savings in the at least $11 million deficit. But when the question came, the issue failed on a 4-3 vote. …

Faced with a $10 million budget deficit, cuts sometimes have to be made beyond the classroom, says Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) assistant superintendent Luke Fulp. As a “viable option to help reduce ongoing expenses and financial obligations,” the district is looking to outsource its custodian and nutrition service workers. In February, the MSBSD voted 4 to 3 to move forward with a request for proposal (RFP), calling for companies interested in providing contracted employees. It’s a move Fulp says could save the district up to $4.3 million. And with a $10 million budget deficit, he says the district is “exploring all options, and making sure everything is on the table, especially when it comes to support services, where we could limit the disruption to students.” … But those cuts come at the cost of connections made over the years, says Karen Salisbury, president of the Mat-Su Classified Employees Association, which oversees the borough’s custodians and nutrition workers. … Potential for a flood of new faces in the district’s schools doesn’t sit well with Salisbury, so she’s spearheading an online petition to get the school board to say no to outsourcing when the measure is up for a vote in April. … Meanwhile, the district is moving forward with the process to outsource. An intent-to-award letter was issued to Nana Management Services on Friday, Fulp says. …

]]>41176Valley Stream Contractor Charged With $700K Wage Thefthttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/valley-stream-contractor-charged-with-700k-wage-theft.htm
Fri, 12 May 2017 14:04:45 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41339Source: Timothy Bolger, Long Island Press, May 4, 2017 A contractor from Valley Stream was arrested for allegedly cheating 10 workers out of nearly $700,000 in wages and benefits on taxpayer-funded New York City public school construction projects, authorities said. Vickram Mangru was charged with felony counts failure to pay the prevailing rate of wage […]

A contractor from Valley Stream was arrested for allegedly cheating 10 workers out of nearly $700,000 in wages and benefits on taxpayer-funded New York City public school construction projects, authorities said. Vickram Mangru was charged with felony counts failure to pay the prevailing rate of wage or supplements and falsifying business records. He was released without bail following his initial court appearance. … Prosecutors said Mangru paid workers “well below” legally mandated prevailing wage rates on city Department of Education projects in the Bronx between December 2012 and February ‘15. … He was previously debarred and banned for a five-year period from performing public work projects by the city Comptroller’s Office for failing to pay proper prevailing wages to workers, prosecutors said. But the suspect instead changed the name of his company and continued allegedly underpaying workers, authorities said. …

]]>41339RPS board votes to outsource bus driver jobshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/rps-205-board-considers-outsourcing-bus-drivers.htm
Wed, 10 May 2017 14:15:06 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41312Source: Corina Curry, Rockford Register Star, May 9, 2017 The Rockford School Board voted 5-2 tonight to accept a bid from First Student and begin negotiating a contract with the private company, thereby outsourcing bus driver jobs. First Student’s bid — the only one the district received after a request for proposals — was […]

The Rockford School Board voted 5-2 tonight to accept a bid from First Student and begin negotiating a contract with the private company, thereby outsourcing bus driver jobs. First Student’s bid — the only one the district received after a request for proposals — was slightly more than $35.7 million for three years. The district’s estimated three-year cost to keep busing in-house is just over $36.1 million or about $426,000 more than the First Student proposal. … If First Student hires more than 50 percent of the district’s bus drivers, the bus drivers union — American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1275 — will remain intact, and drivers will begin contract negotiations with First Student, said Robert Rutkoski, First Student area general manager. Bus drivers, nutrition service workers and teachers’ aides — all of whom are represented by AFSCME unions — went on strike for three days in March for better pay and more affordable insurance rates. …

Rockford Public Schools hopes to save a little more than $426,000 in labor costs over the next three years by outsourcing bus driver jobs. District leaders discussed a bid from Ohio-based First Student tonight during a public hearing. A team from First Student — the only company to bid on bus service — gave a presentation and answered questions from board members and union representatives. There was a time for public comment, as well. About 60 people attended the meeting. … Union leaders also said they think First Student’s proposal would end up costing the district $500,000 more over the next three years. “Our experience as a union, the research that we’ve done, lends us to believe that this proposition will cost taxpayers more and will be less safe for children,” said Ed Sadlowski, staff representative for AFSCME Council 31. The school district is in the process of seeking bids to outsource food services, as well. …

Just before 3p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, Rockford School District 205 buses can be seen going about their daily routine outside of Auburn High School. A routine however, that could see major changes for the men and women behind the wheel. “It’s unsettling, it’s not about kids at all, it’s a distraction,” said AFSCME Council 31Representative Edward Sadlowski. “The board needs to come to it’s senses and do right by children,” he added, upset that the Rockford Public School District is considering bids from a third party to outsource jobs for bus drivers. He thinks if done, it will cost the district more. “This is a more costly proposition, outsourcing and privatization of Rockford resources to Cincinnati and the United Kingdom,” he said. …

]]>41312SAVED: School Committee votes to keep nutrition services in-househttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/saved-school-committee-votes-to-keep-nutrition-services-in-house.htm
Mon, 08 May 2017 16:11:59 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41319Source: Bryan McGonigle, Wicked Local Georgetown, May 4, 2017 In a striking twist of irony, Georgetown’s school cafeteria workers spent School Nutrition Employee Week – meant to honor and highlight their value to the community – fighting for their jobs. … After three hours of discussion and debate, the School Committee unanimously voted to […]

In a striking twist of irony, Georgetown’s school cafeteria workers spent School Nutrition Employee Week – meant to honor and highlight their value to the community – fighting for their jobs. … After three hours of discussion and debate, the School Committee unanimously voted to keep the district’s current program and not outsource food services to Whitsons Culinary Group – a national school lunch and catering corporation. … Under the Whitsons proposal, most employees would be invited to stay and work for that company at the same hourly rate. But benefits would only be offered after a 90-day probationary period – meaning employees would have to wait 90 days to get something they currently have. And benefits would only be offered to full-time employees, with 30 hours a week being the full-time benchmark. Only a couple of employees currently work 30 hours or more, however, so most would not even qualify. “The jobs they hold now will be gone, and they will be replaced, only with an offer to do the same job for less,” Jim Durkin, representative from the AFSCME Council 93, said to the committee. “Less money, less paid time off, a reduction in retirement benefits through the loss of pension eligibility, and a loss of eligibility for health insurance for them and their kids.” … If improvements aren’t seen and participation doesn’t rise, the committee will likely send out another RFP for outsourcing the program next year.

]]>41319What a New Study on Vouchers Means for Trump’s Agendahttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/05/financial-review-of-d-c-charters-includes-new-scrutiny-of-management-contracts.htm
Tue, 02 May 2017 17:34:51 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=31852Source: Leah Askarainam, The Atlantic, April 28, 2017 … But a report released Thursday found largely negative results for students who participated in the District of Columbia’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, suggesting that many of the program’s beneficiaries might actually fare better if they turn down the private-school money. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) […]

… But a report released Thursday found largely negative results for students who participated in the District of Columbia’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, suggesting that many of the program’s beneficiaries might actually fare better if they turn down the private-school money. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) compared test scores for two groups of students: students who, through a lottery process, were selected to receive vouchers, and students who applied for yet didn’t receive them. The study compared the progress of both groups of students from spring of 2012 to 2014 and found that, a year after they applied for the scholarship, math scores were lower for students who won vouchers. What’s more, after narrowing the pool of students down to those in kindergarten through fifth grade, both reading and math scores were lower for students who won vouchers. …

Republicans on Capitol Hill are trying to protect the D.C. school voucher system, a GOP pet program championed by Speaker John A. Boehner and others. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans are gearing up to move forward on a bill reauthorizing vouchers in the nation’s capital, an initiative known as the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. They are concerned the White House has again signaled the demise of the federally funded private-school program in its fiscal 2016 budget request…. The president’s budget includes $43.2 million to remain available until expended, a reduction from $45 million in fiscal 2015. The administration wants $3.2 million of the proposed figure to be used for an evaluation of the program…..

D.C. Public Schools’ graduation rate increased last school year by two percentage points, to 58 percent, but the city’s public charter schools recorded a drop of nearly seven points, to 69 percent, according to new data. The citywide average for the Class of 2014 — 61 percent — was almost unchanged from the year before, according to data from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). The city’s graduation rate remains far below the national average of 81 percent….

]]>31852Saugus School Committee supports privatizing cafeteria staffhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/saugus-school-cafeteria-workers-concerned-about-possible-privatization-of-food-service-program.htm
Thu, 20 Apr 2017 22:51:52 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41210Source: Neil Zolot, Wicked Local, April 19, 2017 The School Committee unanimously voted to send a proposal from food service provider Whitsons Culinary Group to the town Purchasing Department officer that includes provisions for privatizing the cafeteria staff. Bids for a Request for Proposals were due back by March 13 from companies looking to manage and operate the food […]

The School Committee unanimously voted to send a proposal from food service provider Whitsons Culinary Group to the town Purchasing Department officer that includes provisions for privatizing the cafeteria staff. Bids for a Request for Proposals were due back by March 13 from companies looking to manage and operate the food service program from this July 1 to June 30, 2018. … After the vote, AFSCME Council 93 Assistant Director of Legislation, Political Action and Communications Molly Maloney told the School Committee members they showed “a complete lack of respect” to the employees and union members. At the outset of the April 13 meeting, Maloney asked the School Committee to delay approval of the food service contract in order to be able to fully review and process information she provided. “I have prepared a packet of information for all of you with stories where privatization of food services has failed,” Maloney said. “This is a large packet of information and because AFSCME has not been granted an opportunity to review the bid submission from Whitsons, I am requesting that you delay approval.” …

As the School Committee prepares to review a request for proposals for the management and operation of the Saugus Public Schools food service program, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union is raising concerns over a potential move to privatize the school cafeteria workers. Bids were due back by March 13 from companies looking to manage and operate the food service program from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. Whitsons Culinary Group, which currently manages the Saugus Public Schools food service program and oversees 18 cafeteria workers who are school system employees, was the only company to bid for the contract. … Jim Durkin, the director of legislation, political action and communication for AFSCME Council 93, said the union’s concern is that school officials appear to want a private company to take over the entire food service operation — including the workforce.

… Last summer the New England School Development Council completed a review of the district’s food service program that recommended cutting staff, replacing the food service director and instituting new menus as just a few of the strategies to combat waste and increase student participation. … Markland emphasized that nowhere in the report did NESDEC recommend privatizing the cafeteria workers. She also questioned the logic of awarding a bigger contract and more responsibility to a company, Whitsons, that was criticized by NESDEC. … Cafeteria workers in other school districts that privatized the food service program have seen their salaries slashed by as much as 30 percent, Durkin said. … Durkin questioned why the school lunch program is looked at from a profit/loss standpoint when it was established because research shows that students learn better when they have a healthy meal in their stomachs. …

]]>41210N.J. Lottery Sales Fall Short Following Privatizationhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/privatizing-lottery-isnt-lucrative-deal-for-new-jersey.htm
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 18:26:09 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=36515Source: SNJ Today, April 18, 2017 Those hoping to win big in the New Jersey State lottery are spending less on their dreams. State lottery sales are down for the third year since being privatized. Lottery operations management firm Northstar New Jersey promised a return of more than $1.4 billion over 15 years when New […]

Those hoping to win big in the New Jersey State lottery are spending less on their dreams. State lottery sales are down for the third year since being privatized. Lottery operations management firm Northstar New Jersey promised a return of more than $1.4 billion over 15 years when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie moved the games to privatization in 2013. Since then, Northstar has missed its income projections and spent $20 million in allowance funds to cover financial shortfalls. …

New Jersey might get $1 billion less out of its state lottery as part of an amended 15-year deal with the private company that runs part of it, according to an Associated Press analysis. The deal, unveiled by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration on New Year’s Eve, also reduces the amount the company must generate to avoid penalties. The revenue targets that Northstar New Jersey has to meet have been lowered by about $76 million per year over the contract, which was struck in 2013. The total revenue projection was decreased from nearly $16 billion to about $15 billion. … The underperformance — including a $5 million drop in revenue in 2015 — has raised questions from Democrats about the privatization strategy championed by Christie, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate who promoted lottery outsourcing as a way to shrink the government’s payroll and bring in more cash. The lottery brought in $960 million in fiscal year 2015, down from initial expectations of a little more than $1 billion.

New Jersey Having Second Thoughts After Privatizing Lottery
Source: John Reitmeyer, NBC Philadelphia, October 8, 2015
Two years after New Jersey turned over some state lottery functions to a private venture under a controversial long-term deal, lawmakers are questioning why revenues have not met expectations and whether the privatization contract is worth it. The Senate Legislative Oversight Committee announced yesterday that it will hold a hearing on October 19 to review New Jersey’s deal with Northstar New Jersey to address concerns raised in recent weeks about fees Northstar is collecting even as it has failed to meet net-revenue targets. An Assembly committee is also scheduling a hearing on the deal. … Gordon, the Senate committee chairman, said the hearing on October 19 will also review the broader privatization issue, and whether the state is up to the task of monitoring such large contracts. He cited problems the state has had with private companies handling some of the recovery efforts in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 as another reason to broaden the scope of the hearing.

]]>36515The Answer Sheet: What the Public Isn’t Told About High-Performing Charter Schools in Arizonahttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/the-answer-sheet-what-the-public-isnt-told-about-high-performing-charter-schools-in-arizona.htm
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 01:01:09 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41222Source: Valerie Strauss and Carol C. Burris, National Education Policy Center, March 30, 2017 … One of the best illustrations of the “non-public” nature of charters is the much heralded BASIS charter schools that began in Arizona, a state with extremely lax charter laws. A close look at BASIS provides insight into how charter schools can cherry-pick […]

… One of the best illustrations of the “non-public” nature of charters is the much heralded BASIS charter schools that began in Arizona, a state with extremely lax charter laws. A close look at BASIS provides insight into how charter schools can cherry-pick students, despite open enrollment laws. It also shows how through the use of management companies profits can be made — call hidden from public view. … There is no doubt that BASIS provides a challenging education. What is questionable is just how “public” their charter schools really are. … It is important to keep in mind that BASIS Educational Group, LLC. also known as Basis.ed, is also managing for-profit private schools, and it intends to open more. These private schools are located in Silicon Valley and upscale neighborhoods of New York City. Could the taxpayers of Arizona, along with all U.S. taxpayers be indirectly subsidizing these schools and their expansion? …

]]>41222Expanding the Fight for Educationhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/expanding-the-fight-for-education.htm
Fri, 07 Apr 2017 19:56:58 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41178Source: Michael Fiorentino & Jessica Wender-Shubow, Jacobin Magazine, March 24, 2017 Except for some pockets of suburban activism around standardized testing, education policy debate in recent years has centered on cities. In places like Chicago and Boston, grassroots coalitions of teachers’ unions and community organizations are struggling to wrest control of their public schools back […]

Except for some pockets of suburban activism around standardized testing, education policy debate in recent years has centered on cities. In places like Chicago and Boston, grassroots coalitions of teachers’ unions and community organizations are struggling to wrest control of their public schools back from the privatization program backed by hedge-funder owners and their lackeys. Suburbs have distanced themselves from those debates. Even in the recent successful campaign against charter school expansion in Massachusetts, the suburban districts often limited their arguments to protecting their funding. In Brookline, Massachusetts, however, the discussion around schools has been changing. A campaign for fair contracts has drawn attention to how corporate education reform is seeping into the day-to-day operations of affluent schools. …

… More striking has been Brookline’s growing awareness of the composition of its school committee, which is dominated by employees of Bain Capital’s pro-charter, pro-privatization venture philanthropy arm, Bridgespan. Bridgespan’s flagship “Billionaire Dollar Bets” eschew local democratic oversight of family intervention and community development, preferring to enlist billionaires to address poverty directly. Meanwhile, wholesale economic and political dispossession of marginalized communities continues. …

]]>4117850-State Comparison: Vouchershttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/50-state-comparison-vouchers.htm
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 13:19:09 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41192Source: Micah Ann Wixom, Education Commission of the States, March 6, 2017 Education Commission of the States researched voucher policies and programs in all states to provide this comprehensive resource. Click on the questions below for 50-state comparisons showing how all states approach specific voucher policies. View a specific state’s approach by going to the […]

Education Commission of the States researched voucher policies and programs in all states to provide this comprehensive resource. Click on the questions below for 50-state comparisons showing how all states approach specific voucher policies. View a specific state’s approach by going to the state profiles page. Note that some states have more than one voucher program.

]]>41192School bus company benched in Detroit because of insurance problemhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/school-bus-company-benched-in-detroit-because-of-insurance-problem.htm
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 23:53:45 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41189Source: Lori Higgins, Detroit Free Press, April 4, 2017 A company that provides school bus service to nearly 3,000 students in Detroit didn’t meet the proper insurance requirements, an issue that came to light Monday night and forced the Detroit Public Schools Community District to scramble to reassign the company’s bus routes. Safeway Transportation is […]

A company that provides school bus service to nearly 3,000 students in Detroit didn’t meet the proper insurance requirements, an issue that came to light Monday night and forced the Detroit Public Schools Community District to scramble to reassign the company’s bus routes. Safeway Transportation is one of four companies that provides transportation services to the district. Interim Superintendent Alycia Meriweather worked with the remaining companies to take over Safeway’s 67 routes, according to a statement from the district tonight. … Keith January, who heads the AFSCME Local 345, which represents bus attendants, said he wasn’t sure what prompted the change in bus service. He said he was notified yesterday that Safeway “would not be transporting the special-needs students for the district until further notice.” The bus attendants are assigned to buses that transport students who receive special-education services. While the change in bus routes affected all students transported by Safeway, January said he hadn’t heard about delays on the buses that his attendants are assigned to. …

]]>41189School bus driver fired after video shows driver ignoring stop signshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/school-bus-driver-fired-after-video-shows-driver-ignoring-stop-signs.htm
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 18:46:51 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41168Source: WBRZ, March 22, 2017 A school bus driver has been fired after video surfaced showing the bus driving through stop signs in a suburban area without stopping. Shocking video taken by a driver shows the bus plowing through stop signs in the Woodland Ridge neighborhood. The bus serves the Louisiana School for the Deaf, […]

A school bus driver has been fired after video surfaced showing the bus driving through stop signs in a suburban area without stopping. Shocking video taken by a driver shows the bus plowing through stop signs in the Woodland Ridge neighborhood. The bus serves the Louisiana School for the Deaf, but the school contracts bus services through a private company called First Student. First Student announced Wednesday that the driver had been fired, one day after our initial report on the video. …

]]>41168School district to retain IT departmenthttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/04/school-district-to-retain-it-department.htm
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 15:50:38 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41166Source: Joe Cannon, The Sentinel, March 24, 2017 Information technology services will remain in house in the Mifflin County School District following action taken Thursday by the district’s board of directors. Several members of the IT department were present at Thursday’s meeting to urge the board not to outsource IT services to a company that […]

Information technology services will remain in house in the Mifflin County School District following action taken Thursday by the district’s board of directors. Several members of the IT department were present at Thursday’s meeting to urge the board not to outsource IT services to a company that proposed to do so during the board’s February meeting. IT Director Kevin Cunningham and several of his colleagues gave a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the advantages of keeping the department within the district. … Cunningham noted the company proposing to do the service, Questeq, a Coraopolis firm that provides outsourced education technology management services to school districts, alluded to the fact that the in-house department doesn’t have the resources to reach out properly. … Cunningham said outsourcing would allow the district to lose ownership in equipment, personnel decisions and hours worked. …

]]>41166Pottsville Area seeks to outsource buseshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/pottsville-area-seeks-to-outsource-buses.htm
Fri, 31 Mar 2017 19:01:31 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41099Source: Amy Marchiano, Republican Herald, March 17, 2017 The Pottsville Area school board voted Wednesday to potentially outsource its bus transportation. The board voted unanimously for the administration to accept request for proposals regarding busing students. The RFPs are due today and will be opened at 10 a.m. at the Howard S. Fernsler Academic Center. […]

The Pottsville Area school board voted Wednesday to potentially outsource its bus transportation. The board voted unanimously for the administration to accept request for proposals regarding busing students. The RFPs are due today and will be opened at 10 a.m. at the Howard S. Fernsler Academic Center. A pre-bid meeting was held at 10 a.m. March 6 at the academic center. Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel said about five interested companies attended. … Last year, the district also solicited for RFPs and also wanted to sell its fleet of vehicles. Three companies attended a pre-bid meeting last March. The district decided not to outsource busing last year. …

]]>41099SRC hires teacher-prep program over protestshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/src-hires-teacher-prep-program-over-protests.htm
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 19:58:53 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40977Source: Kristen A. Graham, Philly.Com, March 16, 2017 Over protests from the public and concerns from one of its members, the School Reform Commission awarded a contract Thursday to prepare 20 new teachers to work in the Philadelphia School District. The contract amount is relatively small for a district with a multibillion-dollar budget: $150,000 for […]

Over protests from the public and concerns from one of its members, the School Reform Commission awarded a contract Thursday to prepare 20 new teachers to work in the Philadelphia School District. The contract amount is relatively small for a district with a multibillion-dollar budget: $150,000 for one year of work. But the approval was controversial because of the vendor: Relay Graduate School of Education, a relatively new teacher-preparation program founded by three charter-school networks. … It submitted an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, but failed to gain approval to offer degrees in Pennsylvania. Aspiring teachers will essentially be in a two-year Relay “residency” program, working with a veteran Philadelphia educator their first year and in their own classroom the second year. If they complete the program, they would get a master’s degree from a Relay program in another state. …

]]>40977Officials: Suspended Helena school bus driver acted on company’s directionhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/officials-suspended-helena-school-bus-driver-acted-on-companys-direction.htm
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:28:16 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41097Source: Jesse Chaney, Independent Record, March 17, 2017 The Helena school bus driver who was temporarily suspended for leaving two young children at an unfamiliar school without an adult was directed to do so by the school district’s transportation company, officials said. “The driver acted on the direction of First Student,” Helena Public Schools Superintendent […]

The Helena school bus driver who was temporarily suspended for leaving two young children at an unfamiliar school without an adult was directed to do so by the school district’s transportation company, officials said. “The driver acted on the direction of First Student,” Helena Public Schools Superintendent Jack Copps said Friday, adding that several school district officials listened to an audio recording that confirms the radio conversation between the bus driver and a dispatcher with the company. The school district has a contract with First Student to provide its transportation services. In a written complaint to Helena Public Schools, Layla Davies said her 6-year-old child and three of his siblings were on a bus that left from Central-Linc School Wednesday when he vomited on himself. The four students were supposed to transfer to another bus at Jefferson School, she wrote, but the driver would not let her 6-year-old and 8-year-old get on the second bus. Davies later found the two young students walking down Broadway Street, her complaint said. Both of them were scared and her youngest was covered in vomit, she wrote. …

Disregarding Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto threat, the Democrat-dominated General Assembly passed a bill Tuesday to forbid the state from using vouchers or charter schools to fix struggling schools. Both the Senate and House approved the bill by veto-proof margins, setting in motion a political showdown with Hogan for the final two weeks of session. …

Maryland Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday made their case against a series of state education bills that they say push a “privatization agenda” also championed by President Donald Trump and his controversial new education secretary, Betsy DeVos. Dozens of Democrats joined the state teachers union to decry bills backed by Gov. Larry Hogan that would provide scholarships to private schools and encourage more charter schools in Maryland. They said the Republican governor is following the same philosophy as Trump and DeVos, promoting private and charter schools at the expense of public schools. … Weller criticized Hogan’s plans to increase the amount of tax dollars used to help poor children afford a seat in private schools, as well as to set up a new state panel that would approve applications to open new charter schools, an authority currently held by local school boards. … The teachers union and Democrats rattled off a list of bills they plan to pass and Hogan efforts they plan to defeat this General Assembly session. They’re proposing a bill that would prevent the state from looking to school privatization as a way to comply with a federal law requiring turnaround plans for poor-performing schools. … The Democrats also are mobilizing to block Hogan’s proposal to help charter schools by, among other things, creating a new state board that will review and authorize new charter schools to open. Critics say Hogan can stack the panel with allies who will allow a flood of new charter schools that will siphon funding from public schools. … The Democratic lawmakers said they will oppose Hogan’s promise to gradually increase funding for a private school scholarship program known as Broadening Options & Opportunities for Students Today or BOOST from $5 million to $10 million. …

]]>40516Teachers at a fifth New Orleans charter school seeking a unionhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/new-orleans-teachers-discuss-the-future-of-unions-in-charter-schools.htm
Wed, 29 Mar 2017 21:28:54 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=38399Source: Jessica Williams, The Advocate, March 28, 2017 Teachers are unionizing at another of New Orleans’ independent charter schools. And, as usual, things have gotten contentious. This time, the faculty at Mary D. Coghill Charter School is pushing for union representation. It’s the fifth campus in the past few years where staff have sought to […]

Teachers are unionizing at another of New Orleans’ independent charter schools. And, as usual, things have gotten contentious. This time, the faculty at Mary D. Coghill Charter School is pushing for union representation. It’s the fifth campus in the past few years where staff have sought to link up with the United Teachers of New Orleans, a union that once bargained for wages and benefits on behalf of thousands of employees before it was sidelined by the charter movement in the years after Hurricane Katrina. …

The National Labor Relations Board has shot down challenges to two New Orleans charter school unions. That means Lusher Charter School aides and International High School teachers have the right to collectively bargain employment contracts.
The 2-1 board votes came down Wednesday (Feb. 1). … International High plans to appeal the decision, attorney Brooke Duncan III said. … Charter schools are neither fish nor fowl, publicly funded but run by independent nonprofits. The National Labor Relations Board treats them as private employers, which under federal law must bargain with unionized workers. Elected Louisiana school boards don’t. Both schools argued that they should be considered public agencies. … The board’s majority disagreed, writing, “The employer was not created directly by the state so as to constitute a department or administrative arm of the government nor administered by individuals who are responsible to public officials or the general electorate.” …

This school year, two high profile New Orleans charter schools attempted to form unions. One voted yes: International High School. One voted no: Lusher Charter School. In light of those votes, teachers around the city shared their perspective on unions since Katrina and where things might go from here. … But schools with unhappy teachers can be harder to organize, because the staff leaves or isn’t asked to return the following year. The higher the churn, the harder to build union momentum. Masterson says it’s no coincidence that Franklin was one of the first charter schools to unionize. Teachers there tend to stick around. It’s also a standalone charter school – the same as all the schools that have bid for unions so far. They’re much easier to organize than an entire charter network. … But the union victory isn’t assured. Both International High School and Lusher are challenging the union elections, saying the National Labor Relations Board doesn’t have the right to hold elections at charter schools because they’re public, government bodies. …

Eyewitness News investigates safety concerns surrounding special education transportation within Fresno Unified. First Student buses transport all special needs kids within the district. Following a bus fire back in September, Eyewitness News began looking closely at the bus company, uncovering email correspondence that reveal a history of multiple mechanical issues. … Following an Eyewitness News Investigation into a First sSudent bus that caught fire while transporting two disabled students in September, we were contacted by parents claiming the air conditioners on their child’s buses were broken. We also received a picture from two different people claiming to be former and current first student bus drivers of a bus completely engulfed in flames at Rio Vista and Manning on the outskirts of Reedley. .

.. Emails that we obtained through a public record’s request when we first began looking more closely at the bus company. The emails are between Fresno Unified transportation and special education officials and staff as well as First Student management. Three months of correspondence from August of 2016 to October of 2016, reveal nearly 200 exchanges and dozens of concerns. In one email, a Fresno Unified staff member says a driver picked up students but then returned minutes later because the air conditioner wasn’t working. The email went onto to say the same bus had the same problem the day before and according to the driver, maintenance couldn’t find the issue. The very next day, a concerned principal mentions that very bus transports four students who have seizure disorders and reminds that heat induces seizures. … Claims of other mechanical issues also brought up. Twice in one week, the wheelchair lifts on a bus were allegedly broken. In another email, a principal claims it took one bus more than an hour to turn it’s engine over. …

]]>41080How voucher dollars kept coming as a private school collapsedhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/how-voucher-dollars-kept-coming-as-a-private-school-collapsed.htm
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 16:25:57 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41015Source: Stephanie Wang, IndyStar, March 19, 2017 The Indiana Department of Education and the attorney general’s office both had been warned. Teachers at the tiny Todd Academy weren’t getting paid. Parents complained that classes were being held in an unsafe building without heat, and the school appeared to be promoting children who weren’t ready, in […]

The Indiana Department of Education and the attorney general’s office both had been warned. Teachers at the tiny Todd Academy weren’t getting paid. Parents complained that classes were being held in an unsafe building without heat, and the school appeared to be promoting children who weren’t ready, in an effort to secure more state money. Yet after two visits by the education department and an investigation by the attorney general’s office, the troubled Indianapolis private school still received thousands of dollars in public funds through Indiana’s school voucher program and remained eligible to receive state voucher money until it collapsed under the weight of its unpaid debts. … An IndyStar examination of Todd Academy’s experience with school vouchers exposes a serious lack of basic fiscal controls in Indiana’s highly popular school choice system. While both traditional public schools and charter schools must open their budgets to public scrutiny, voucher schools are exempt from any financial vetting — to the point that even when mismanagement has been repeatedly alleged, state officials are loath to intervene. … Despite hints of money trouble from the start, state officials approved Todd Academy to receive about $200,000 in voucher funds over three years. The school was free to keep taking public dollars, even though it had stopped filing its nonprofit tax reports. It was sued 13 times with judgments against the school in all but one case, totaling $1.8 million. … It has been six years since the state launched what has become one of the largest and broadest voucher programs, now serving more than 34,000 children at a cost of $146 million a year.

… Bolstered by the addition of vouchers, Todd Academy started to rack up hefty financial obligations the next year with the hopes of expanding to more than 50 students. … Todd Academy also had been shorting teachers’ paychecks, according to lawsuits by a dozen teachers, nine of whom eventually won judgments against the school. … The school’s finances had deteriorated to the point where Todd Academy used the promise of state voucher money to secure high-interest loans, only to be found in default of the contracts. … State law is careful to protect the autonomy of private schools participating in the voucher program. It preserves their independent curriculum, whether it be religious or not. They’re not an agent of the state, and only a portion of their revenues come from the state. The state requires financial transparency from public schools, which risk losing state funding if they’re not accountable. Schools can have their charter revoked or control taken away by the state. But voucher schools have been shielded in state law from providing any financial transparency. …

]]>41015Two Face Charges After Missing Teen Found In New Rochellehttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/two-face-charges-after-missing-teen-found-in-new-rochelle.htm
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 14:33:07 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=41078Source: Zak Failla, New Rochelle Daily Voice, March 6, 2017 Two were arrested in New Rochelle over the weekend after “purposely misleading” police during an “exhaustive search” for a missing autistic teenager, authorities said. Shortly after midnight on Saturday, March 4, police received a call from a mother reporting that her 16-year-old child, who has […]

Two were arrested in New Rochelle over the weekend after “purposely misleading” police during an “exhaustive search” for a missing autistic teenager, authorities said. Shortly after midnight on Saturday, March 4, police received a call from a mother reporting that her 16-year-old child, who has special needs, had gone missing after he was supposed to be dropped off by Mount Vernon-based First Student Inc. Bus hours earlier following an event in New Rochelle that he attends regularly. … Police stated that “it became apparent that numerous safety procedures violated placing the child at risk and that New Rochelle Police Department had been purposely misled with false information, placing the child at substantial risk of harm, delaying and delaying and misdirecting search efforts.” …

]]>41078Bristol School Board, Union Agree Labor Rift Is Overhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/bristols-new-board-likely-to-end-school-cafeteria-battle.htm
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:57:16 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=36132Source: Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, March 22, 2017 The once-bitter relationship between the school board and its unionized cafeteria workers has improved enough in the past 16 months to yield a new contract along with words of praise from both sides. “It’s a massive turnaround from the constant conflict of previous years,” according to Chad […]

The once-bitter relationship between the school board and its unionized cafeteria workers has improved enough in the past 16 months to yield a new contract along with words of praise from both sides. “It’s a massive turnaround from the constant conflict of previous years,” according to Chad Lockhart, president of Local 2267 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Since the 2015 election changed control of the school board, Bristol has abandoned its controversial plan to replace the cafeteria workers with a private contractor. Both sides have dropped their labor board and court fight, and recently settled on a five-year wage and benefit agreement. “Negotiations between our board and the AFSCME union have been handled with mutual respect and professionalism,” school board Chairman Christopher Wilson said in a statement. …

Even though the labor-endorsed candidate at the top of the ticket lost, unions enjoyed a victory Tuesday when voters turned Republican school board incumbents Larry Amara and Genard Dolan out of office. Democrats won a six-to-three majority on the board after being out of power since 2011. That virtually ensures the unpopular Republican-led drive to privatize school cafeterias is dead. Democrats have warned that hiring a contractor to run the cafeterias would ultimately prove more expensive, possibly degrade service and definitely lower the value of 53 food service jobs covered by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. … Democrats campaigned on a theme that privatizing the cafeterias might jeopardize the jobs of 53 union workers — mostly middle-class mothers who reside in Bristol. And even if a private contractor kept them on, it was certain to erode the insurance benefits that cover the workers and their families, Democrats said.

The new school year begins in less than two months, and there’s no apparent resolution near in the dispute between unionized cafeteria workers and the board of education. The board’s Republican caucus has been trying to hire a private contractor for more than two years to take over the school lunch program, but has been locked in court and labor board fights with the union representing the roughly 50 workers who run the cafeterias. Last year, the school board signed an agreement to retain Whitsons Culinary Group to take over the cafeteria operation, but changed course after a labor board ruling in favor of the union. The schools ultimately kept their own workers on the job. Next week, however, the board is scheduled to open a fresh round of bids from contractors that want to run the cafeterias for the 2015-16 school year. The school board had sought proposals this spring, but abruptly canceled that request and issued a new request that included detailed breakdowns of how many meals are served at each school….The school board intends to receive bids through July 17….

]]>36132JCPS contractor: Study still good despite errorhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/management-performance-review-of-certain-policies-procedures-controls-and-financial-activity-of-the-jefferson-county-public-school-district.htm
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:27:28 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=31268Source: Allison Ross, Courier-Journal, March 22, 2017 The contractor that compiled a salary study for Jefferson County Public Schools admits its error made it seem the district was paying a lot more in “premium” salaries than it actually was, but said the error was limited to a supplemental report and does not negate the […]

The contractor that compiled a salary study for Jefferson County Public Schools admits its error made it seem the district was paying a lot more in “premium” salaries than it actually was, but said the error was limited to a supplemental report and does not negate the entire study. “There was one error in one report, and we took responsibility for that,” said Carolyn Long, vice president of Virginia-based Management Advisory Group International Inc., which conducted the salary study. Long said the roughly $40 million error was in some extra information her firm provided as a courtesy in an addition to the original report on salaries that JCPS had requested. … Stovall said the initial release of the salary study caused employees to feel undervalued and underappreciated for the work they do. He said that now, his members feel like the error is a “slap in the face.” Ron Richmond, political director for the regional chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, agreed. Richmond said more than 4,000 of his union’s members were “directly impacted by this miscalculation” and said he hopes JCPS will take action over the flawed results. …

From the press release:
Auditor Adam Edelen on Wednesday unveiled a comprehensive examination of the Jefferson County Public Schools, exposing an unchecked bureaucracy that has become bloated and inefficient at the expense of the classroom. The largest review ever conducted by the Auditor’s office identified outdated and inefficient operations that cost taxpayers millions of dollars, a school board that doesn’t provide adequate oversight, an inconsistent contracting process, a toothless internal audit system and serious security and privacy concerns…

… [Celerity Education Group founder Vielka] McFarlane was prospering, and it showed. She wore Armani suits, ate at expensive restaurants and used a black car service. Financial records obtained by The Times show that, as Celerity’s CEO, she paid for many of these expenses with a credit card belonging to her charter schools, which receive the bulk of their funding from the state. … At a time when charter school advocates are determined to increase the number of such schools in L.A., the story of McFarlane and the Celerity schools offers a case study of the growing difficulty of regulating them. The task of spotting and stamping out risky financial practices in charters largely falls to the school district’s charter schools division, which employs about a dozen people dedicated to monitoring the schools’ fiscal health. But as the number of L.A. charter schools has grown to more than 220, enrolling about 111,000 students, oversight has become a challenge for district officials, who are at once competitors and regulators. … In 2015, McFarlane became the CEO of Celerity Global, an organization that took in millions of dollars in management fees from Celerity’s schools. But Global wasn’t just supporting the schools; it had the power to control Celerity Educational and could appoint and remove the school network’s board members. It also served as a shield. In documents laying out their findings, L.A. Unified officials complained that McFarlane and her staff repeatedly rebuffed the district’s requests for information and acted in ways “designed to reduce, or eliminate, transparency.” … Records obtained by The Times offer some insight into why the Celerity network has drawn federal attention. They show years of questionable spending and potential conflicts of interest over a period of time when former teachers said the schools lacked basic supplies and often leaned on students to fundraise. …

Federal agents raided the offices of a network of Los Angeles charter schools Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of fraud and fiscal mismanagement. The charter organization, Celerity Educational Group, opened its first L.A. school more than a decade ago, but it has recently drawn the scrutiny of the inspector general of the Los Angeles Unified School District and the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. It currently manages seven schools in Southern California, and has ties to four more in Louisiana, all of which are publicly funded but privately operated and exempt from many of the regulations that govern traditional schools. … Holmquist added that it is his understanding that the focus of the investigation is not Celerity’s schools, but the Celerity organization that manages them, as well as businesses that have relationships with the charter group. … The first signs that Celerity and its Los Angeles schools might be in trouble came in 2015. The organization had petitioned L.A. Unified to allow it to open two new charter schools, an application process it had gone through successfully several times before. But this time, L.A. Unified’s school board said no. School district officials raised new concerns over the charter school organization’s finances and its complex governance structure. In their final report, in which they advised board members to reject the group’s charter petition, they accused Celerity’s leaders of unorthodox fiscal practices, such as borrowing money from one school in order to pay another schools’ bills, spending money on expenses unrelated to the school and commingling the organization’s finances with those of separate legal entities. …

Back in April dozens of students escaped a bus after it caught fire – a quick thinking bus driver saving their lives. Now we know the company that operated that bus — had eleven other buses fail inspection. The reports obtained by NBC2 show emergency equipment that didn’t work, gauges and wipers that were out of service and front and back breaks that needed replacing. Academy Transport owns those buses. It was hired by Celerity Education Group – which runs three Charter Schools in Lee County. The report of the bus that caught fire still has not been produced. These are not District owned or maintained buses. Charter schools contract with private bus companies to take kids to and from school. Since the beginning of April, Celerity, has avoided providing us with bus inspection reports. ….

]]>33708Missouri House approves increase charter school fundinghttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/missouri-house-approves-increase-charter-school-funding.htm
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 13:30:42 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40979Source: Ryan Matheny, KMA Land, March 17, 2017 Legislation that would expand charter schools in Missouri has passed one side of the General Assembly. By a narrow 82-to-76 margin, the Missouri House approved HB-634 — sponsored by Republican Rebecca Roeber of Lee’s Summit — which would allow charter schools to be established throughout the state. […]

Legislation that would expand charter schools in Missouri has passed one side of the General Assembly. By a narrow 82-to-76 margin, the Missouri House approved HB-634 — sponsored by Republican Rebecca Roeber of Lee’s Summit — which would allow charter schools to be established throughout the state. Currently, charter schools — which are publicly-funded and tuition-free schools that operate independently of the public school system — are only allowed in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas. … Many Republicans in the House backed the bill because it increases choices for education, while opponents hold that the state cannot hold the schools accountable. … Governor Eric Greitens has already signaled support for the proposal. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration, where a similar proposal is already in committee.

]]>40979Ishpeming won’t privatize businghttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/ishpeming-school-board-weighs-privatization-of-busing.htm
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:00:10 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40074Source: Jerry Tudor, WLUC TV6, March 17, 2017 After plenty of discussion and deliberation the Ishpeming School District has decided not to privatize its busing operations. Talks began about nine months ago, and one company did a presentation during a school board meeting explaining their interest. The deadline for proposals was March 1st. Since that […]

After plenty of discussion and deliberation the Ishpeming School District has decided not to privatize its busing operations. Talks began about nine months ago, and one company did a presentation during a school board meeting explaining their interest. The deadline for proposals was March 1st. Since that time, school officials discussed and researched the proposal and determined it wouldn’t be in the school’s best financial interest. … Bus drivers in Ishpeming will remain in their current contracts and will continue at the same pay rate. …

With a deficit in its budget, the Ishpeming Public School District has been looking for ways to cut the budget to leave more money for education. One idea going through the Board of Education is privatizing the busing system for the district. Rallying against the idea, community members came to voice their opinion against privatization. Dressed in black and adorned with yellow buttons, over fifty community members were in attendance at Wednesday night’s Ishpeming Board of Education Meeting. The hot topic of discussion was whether or not the district should privatize transportation in order to satisfy a more balanced budget. According to Superintendent Carrie Meyers, the Department of Treasury has inquired about the fiscal state of the district, and while it hasn’t been determined to be under fiscal stress quite yet, they’re looking for ways to avoid it without affecting students in the classroom. Over the last year, the board has mulled over the concept of privatization and has heard a handful of presentations from potential candidates while launching their own investigation into the matter.

The Ishpeming School Board is considering privatization of its busing system as a potential cost saving measure. The board heard a presentation from Dean Transportation, a company out of the Lansing area, and Checker Transport of Marquette. Dean Transportation representative Patrick Dean said his company currently partners with 125 different school districts in the Lower Peninsula in 35 locations with approximately 1,400 school busses. The company provides a variety of services including general education transportation, regional special education transportation, field trips, driver support services and transportation management services, Dean said. … Dean Transportation will work in concert with Checker Transport of Marquette. Checker currently provides busing services for North Star Academy. … According to its website, Lamers Bus Lines Inc. offers services in locations throughout the state of Wisconsin, one in Florida and one in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Lamers currently provides busing services to the Calumet – Laurium District Schools, Houghton Public Schools and Hancock Public Schools. Betty Mongiat, who has been a bus driver in the Ishpeming School district for 29 years, said she had concerns about how a private company would handle day-to-day problems with the buses. … IPS Superintendent Carrie Meyer said the presentations were just the first step in the process. “We are just in the preliminary stages with looking at privatizing busing,” Meyer said. She said she is in the process of creating a request for proposals that will include information about the buses the district has and the routes they cover. Meyer said she expects the RFP to be ready to go before the Finance Committee in December. The Finance Committee will then make a recommendation to the school board as to whether or not to send out the RFP and then post for bids. …

After years of failed attempts, Kentucky lawmakers have approved a charter school law. The measure passed the state Senate on a vote of 23-15 Wednesday afternoon, largely along party lines. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin—an enthusiastic supporter of charters—is expected to sign the measure. The Kentucky House approved the bill—HB 520—last week and will still have to sign off on changes made by the Senate. … Kentucky has been one of the hardest places to pass a charter law, but with the 2016 election, Republicans in the state took control of the legislature and the governorship, clearing the way for a charter bill to succeed. The bill says nothing about how charters in Kentucky will be funded. Under its provisions, there will be no limit on the number of charter schools that can be authorized. … And while the bill says that parents, community members, public organizations, school administrators, and nonprofits can apply to operate a charter school, there is nothing in the legislation that prevents charter school operators from contracting out all of their management and operations to a for-profit entity. …

A charter schools bill remained stuck in committee as Kentucky lawmakers reached the two-thirds mark of their legislative session Tuesday, but the highly anticipated measure backed by Gov. Matt Bevin could start advancing later this week. House Education Committee Chairman John “Bam” Carney said his bill paving the way for public charter schools to open in Kentucky could be heard by his committee on Thursday. … Carney said he’s optimistic about the bill’s chances in the Republican-controlled General Assembly, but acknowledged the bill has drawn “fairly strong” pushback from some in education. … In past years, bills called for charter schools to be introduced as pilot projects. Carney’s bill would open up the opportunity for public charters statewide. … Prospects for charter school legislation improved dramatically when the GOP took control of the House after last year’s elections. In the past, charter schools bills died due to lack of House support when Democrats ran the chamber. The Senate is solidly controlled by Republicans. Under Carney’s bill, public charters could be exempt from some state education regulations but would comply with the same testing, safety, finance and transparency regulations as other public schools, he said. … If Carney’s bill becomes law, Kentucky would become the 44th state nationally to allow public charter schools, according to the Kentucky Charter School Project, an advocacy group.

Kentucky lawmakers are back in Frankfort, and the issue of charter schools is back in the forefront. Governor Matt Bevin is calling for charter schools to become a reality in the Commonwealth. “Charter schools are coming to Kentucky,” Gov. Bevin said during his speech Wednesday night. He renewed the call for the schools in his State Of The Commonwealth address, in one of seven states still without them. … A house bill, HB 103, allowing for charter schools to be established here is the latest effort to bring them to Kentucky. The charter schools get public funding, but are run by groups independent of local school districts. In his address last night, Governor Bevin says the current education system in Kentucky isn’t doing as well as it could be. … The House bill isn’t the only one lawmakers will be considering. A separate bill filed in the senate will allow pilot charter schools in the Louisville and Lexington areas.

]]>40594Blurred Lines: Public School Reforms and the Privatization of Public Educationhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/blurred-lines-public-school-reforms-and-the-privatization-of-public-education.htm
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 14:00:31 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40966Source: Erika K. Wilson, Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, Vol. 51, December 13, 2016 Abstract: This Article critically examines the rise of market-based public school reforms. It argues that market-based public school reforms result in quality public education being normatively conceptualized and treated as what political economists call a private good rather than […]

Abstract:
This Article critically examines the rise of market-based public school reforms. It argues that market-based public school reforms result in quality public education being normatively conceptualized and treated as what political economists call a private good rather than a public good. While public education is admittedly not a pure public good, it is widely recognized as a quasi or impure public good that benefits society as a whole in many ways. Yet market-based public school reforms situate public education as a private good by diminishing public education’s ability to truly bring positive externalities to society as a whole. They do so by situating the positive externalities associated with a quality public education in ways that do not benefit the greater society. Instead, market-based public school reforms allow a shallow subset of people to take advantage of market-like exchanges to select — rather than be assigned to — a particular school that they believe will provide a quality public education for only them. Little regard is given to the overall quality of education received by students collectively. Instead, market-based public school reforms allow students to individually improve their own lot, while failing to address systemic issues that plague many low-quality public schools. For these reasons, this Article makes a normative argument in favor of re-thinking market-based reforms as the primary vehicle for improving educational opportunities for poor and minority students.

]]>40966Charter schools bill hotly debated in hearinghttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/charter-schools-bill-hotly-debated-in-hearing.htm
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:38:28 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40960Source: Margaret Reist, Lincoln Journal Star, March 18, 2017 Public school advocates and their equally passionate school choice counterparts painted very different pictures of what Nebraska’s education system would look like if it authorized charter schools during hours of testimony at a Legislative hearing Tuesday. … The bill (LB630), introduced by Sen. Tyson Larson of […]

Public school advocates and their equally passionate school choice counterparts painted very different pictures of what Nebraska’s education system would look like if it authorized charter schools during hours of testimony at a Legislative hearing Tuesday. … The bill (LB630), introduced by Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill, would allow charter schools in districts with low-performing schools. The charter schools would be overseen by a new Independent Public School Authorizing and Accountability Commission created by the bill. Larson said he planned to offer an amendment to strengthen accountability measures in LB630 and to address constitutional questions raised by Nebraska Department of Education officials. Nebraska is one of seven states that does not authorize charter schools. The full Legislature is unlikely to debate the bill this session because it wasn’t prioritized. Still, that didn’t stop proponents from holding a news conference Tuesday in support of it, or from more than 150 people gathering for a rally in opposition to it. …

]]>40960These For-Profit Schools Are ‘Like a Prison’http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/can-a-private-company-teach-troubled-kids.htm
Fri, 17 Mar 2017 17:54:20 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=39230Source: Sarah Carr, Francesca Berardi, Zoë Kirsch and Stephen Smiley, ProPublica, March 8, 2017 … Over six months in 2013 and 2014, about a half-dozen parents, students and community members at Paramount Academy — billed as a “therapeutic” day program — complained of abusive behavior by the school’s staff. … Thirteen Camelot students have alleged […]

… Over six months in 2013 and 2014, about a half-dozen parents, students and community members at Paramount Academy — billed as a “therapeutic” day program — complained of abusive behavior by the school’s staff. … Thirteen Camelot students have alleged in interviews or documents that they were shoved, beaten, or thrown — assaults almost always referred to as “slamming” — by Camelot staff members, usually for the sin of talking back, in separate incidents that span 10 years and three states. … Two additional students, and five Camelot staff members, say they have personally witnessed beatings or physical aggression by staff. The abuse allegedly occurred in Camelot programs in Reading; Lancaster; Philadelphia; New Orleans; and Pensacola, Florida. … Despite such allegations, Camelot has continued to expand. It contracts with traditional school districts to run about 40 schools across the country — schools that serve kids who have gotten into trouble, have emotional or behavioral issues, or have fallen far behind academically. In 2015, Camelot reported more than $77 million in revenue, more than a third from contracts with the school districts of Philadelphia, Houston, and Chicago. … About half a million students in the United States attend alternative schools, which are publicly funded but often managed by private, for-profit companies such as Camelot. Camelot’s story illustrates the risk that for-profit schools, which are favored by the Trump administration and new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, may put earnings ahead of student welfare. It also exposes the dismal educational options available to some students that traditional high schools don’t want to serve, because they are disruptive, severely disabled, years behind in school, or have criminal backgrounds.

… Add it all up, skeptics say, and the Camelot experience starts to resemble the nation’s incarceration system: racially biased, isolated, punitive, unnecessarily violent and designed, above all else, to maintain obedience and control. … Public school districts typically contract with Camelot to run one of three types of programs: “transitional schools” for kids with behavior issues; “therapeutic programs” for those with special behavioral and emotional needs; and “accelerated programs” for students who have fallen far behind. … Most Camelot students share two characteristics. They are nearly all poor. And they are overwhelmingly peopleof color. … The incidents at Camelot tended to follow a similar pattern, according to multiple accounts from students and staff members. Nonacademic staff members (usually the behavioral specialists and team leaders but sometimes higher-level employees) were permitted by administrators and school leaders to manhandle students as a form of intimidation — whether the teenagers had acted out or not. They preyed most often on students who had the least recourse to complain: social pariahs whose parents were disengaged or unable to advocate effectively, because they didn’t speak English, for instance. School leaders condoned the abuse and in some cases even encouraged it, according to Jandy Rivera and others. … In most middle- and upper-income communities, parents provide an informal yet crucial form of accountability for schools — protesting, and even suing over, mistreatment of their children. But this safety net is largely missing in the Camelot schools, where parents lack the knowledge, confidence, resources or language skills to complain. Those who have come forward say that few people in positions of power, including school officials, lawyers and police officers, take them seriously — if they listen at all. …

Disruptive students are a headache for public schools. They distract from lessons, skip class, and often bring down the graduation rates. That’s why school districts across the country have resorted to opening alternative schools in recent decades, with hopes that smaller classes and individual attention might help these students get their diplomas. But even these alternative schools (which differ from charter schools in that they are still part of school districts and thus answer to superintendents) can be a burden: They’re expensive to run, and their graduation rates are still pretty low. Desperate for help, many school districts are now hiring private companies to manage these alternative schools and educate their most troublesome students. … Richmond is one of the latest cities to experiment with outsourcing education. In July, the city hired a Texas-based company called Camelot Education to run the Richmond Alternative School, which last year served 223 students from across the city in grades 6 through 11. Nearly all of the students at Richmond Alternative are black (97 percent) and most are poor (87 percent qualify for free lunches). Some black parents once dubbed it the “colored children’s prison” and it has been criticized for contributing to what’s called the school-to-prison pipeline—Virginia is the state that refers the most students to law enforcement. …

… The turn to the private sector is not new for Richmond. In 2004, the city hired a private company to run a previous iteration of its alternative school, which was then called the Capital City Program. The $4.6 million agreement with a Tennessee-based company called Community Education Partners was the school district’s most expensive contract that year. … The quality of the education provided by Community Education Partners turned out to be substandard, according to a Richmond Magazine investigation, which found that a third of the school’s teachers were not credentialed. Elsewhere, schools run by Community Education Partners were not faring much better. The American Civil Liberties Union in Georgia sued the company in 2008 for allegedly providing “fundamentally inferior” education to students at an alternative school in Atlanta—an environment “so violent and intimidating that learning is all but impossible.” Atlanta canceled its contract with the company, and a year later, so did the city of Philadelphia. …

… The teachers who have been working at Richmond Alternative the past few years will have an opportunity to interview for teaching positions with Camelot, Bock says, but, if hired, they will be required to undergo the company’s de-escalation and behavior modification training. Companies such as Camelot can pay teachers less if they choose to, as they are not subject to collective bargaining agreements with the local teachers’ union. … This may be the first time that Richmond will work with Camelot, but data on the company’s presence in Philadelphia provides a fuller picture of its track record. Camelot was one of half a dozen companies running Philadelphia’s alternative schools in the past decade, the largest experiment in privatizing alternative education to date. …

]]>39230Student Login Records at Ohio E-Schools Spark $80 Million Disputehttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/online-charter-school-loses-state-attendance-audit-appeal.htm
Fri, 17 Mar 2017 17:09:16 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40199Source: Benjamin Herold and Alex Harwin, Education Week, March 7, 2017 The Ohio education department could seek repayment of more than $80 million from nine full-time online schools, based on audits of software-login records that led state officials to determine the schools had overstated their student enrollment. The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, for example, was […]

The Ohio education department could seek repayment of more than $80 million from nine full-time online schools, based on audits of software-login records that led state officials to determine the schools had overstated their student enrollment. The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, for example, was paid for 15,322 full-time students during the 2015-16 school year. But state officials said they could document just 41 percent of that total. An Education Week analysis of both the login records submitted by ECOT and the results of the state’s audit for that year further demonstrates the scope of the discrepancy: Under Ohio law, schools are expected to offer students 920 hours of learning. But for the average ECOT student, state officials were able to document just 227 hours spent using the school’s learning software, Education Week’s review found. …

A judge will allow Ohio’s education department to review attendance records that could force Ohio’s largest online charter to return millions of its funding. Franklin County Judge Jenifer French on Thursday finalized a ruling against the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, or ECOT. The decision rejects a request by ECOT to block the state from requiring the school provide log-in durations as a way of measuring how many students attend the school. The state said has said that ECOT’s enrollment is nearly 60 percent lower than originally reported, potentially jeopardizing about $60 million in state funding from last year. …

The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) has filed appeals with both the Ohio Department of Education and an appeals court to challenge rulings that threaten more than $60 million of its state funding. Neither appeal offers much detail of the online charter school’s case, but they start procedures to block the state from recovering money paid to the school last year because it cannot document how much time its students spent on their classes.

]]>40199Florida to Examine Whether Alternative Charter Schools Underreport Dropoutshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/florida-to-examine-whether-alternative-charter-schools-underreport-dropouts.htm
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 16:00:15 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40915Source: Heather Vogell, ProPublica, March 6, 2017 Florida’s Department of Education is expanding an inquiry into how schools classify students who leave without graduating, in response to a ProPublica report that the state may have thousands more dropouts than it acknowledges. Also in reaction to the ProPublica article, the school board chairman in Orlando is […]

Florida’s Department of Education is expanding an inquiry into how schools classify students who leave without graduating, in response to a ProPublica report that the state may have thousands more dropouts than it acknowledges. Also in reaction to the ProPublica article, the school board chairman in Orlando is asking the district superintendent for a formal report regarding concerns that low-achieving students have been pressured to transfer from traditional to alternative high schools. … Fifteen students at schools run by for-profit Accelerated Learning Solutions (ALS) in Orlando’s district said that, because of their academic performance, they had been denied admission to regular public high schools or told they had to transfer from them to alternative programs, according to our Feb. 21 article, which was co-published by USA Today. Some were pulled from class for surprise assemblies where ALS representatives gave a pitch to attend their schools.

… Several traditional schools improved their graduation rates by dispatching students unlikely to earn diplomas on time to ALS schools, the article reported. Enrollment in alternative schools in Orlando’s district, Orange County, has tripled in recent years, swelling to 3,900 in 2014. District officials say transfers for academic reasons are voluntary. ProPublica also found that these alternative schools could be significantly undercounting dropouts by coding students who leave as withdrawing to enter adult education, such as GED classes. State rules don’t label withdrawals for adult education as dropping out. … The state education department, which was already reviewing graduation-rate data, will broaden its examination in light of ProPublica’s findings, a department spokeswoman wrote in an email. The state board of education will consider the matter at its March 22 meeting. …

… Sunshine collects enough school district money to cover costs and pay its management firm, Accelerated Learning Solutions (ALS), a more than $1.5 million-a-year “management fee,” 2015 financial records show — more than what the school spends on instruction. But students lose out, a ProPublica investigation found. Once enrolled at Sunshine, hundreds of them exit quickly with no degree and limited prospects. The departures expose a practice in which officials in the nation’s tenth-largest school district have for years quietly funneled thousands of disadvantaged students — some say against their wishes — into alternative charter schools that allow them to disappear without counting as dropouts. … The Orlando schools illustrate a national pattern. Alternative schools have long served as placements for students who violated disciplinary codes. But since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 refashioned the yardstick for judging schools, alternative education has taken on another role: A silent release valve for high schools like Olympia that are straining under the pressure of accountability reform. As a result, alternative schools at times become warehouses where regular schools stow poor performers to avoid being held accountable. Traditional high schools in many states are free to use alternative programs to rid themselves of weak students whose test scores, truancy and risk of dropping out threaten their standing, a ProPublica survey of state policies found.

… Concerns that schools artificially boosted test scores by dumping low achievers into alternative programs have surfaced in connection with ongoing litigation in Louisiana and Pennsylvania, and echo findings from a legislative report a decade ago in California. The phenomenon is borne out by national data: While the number of students in alternative schools grew moderately over the past 15 years, upticks occurred as new national mandates kicked in on standardized testing and graduation rates. The role of charter alternative schools like Sunshine — publicly funded but managed by for-profit companies — is likely to grow under the new U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, an ardent supporter of school choice. … The charters exploit a loophole in state regulations: By coding hundreds of students who leave as withdrawing to enter adult education, such as GED classes, Sunshine claims virtually no dropouts. State rules don’t label withdrawals for that reason as dropping out. But ALS officials cannot say where Sunshine students actually went — or if they even took GED classes at all. …

]]>40915Chicago Teachers Are Trying to Organize the Biggest Charter School Union in the U.S.http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/chicago-teachers-are-trying-to-organize-the-biggest-charter-school-union-in-the-u-s.htm
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:17:45 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40844Source: Jeff Schuhrke, In These Times, March 9, 2017 As Education Secretary Betsy DeVos calls for expanding charter schools and voucher programs in the name of “choice,” teachers at Chicago’s largest charter school have declared their choice to form a union. Announcing the creation of the Union of Noble Educators last Friday, workers from Noble […]

As Education Secretary Betsy DeVos calls for expanding charter schools and voucher programs in the name of “choice,” teachers at Chicago’s largest charter school have declared their choice to form a union. Announcing the creation of the Union of Noble Educators last Friday, workers from Noble Network’s 17 charter high schools hope to follow in the footsteps of teachers and staff from 32 other Chicago charter schools who have already unionized with the help of the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS), Local 4343 of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).If successful, the 800 or so educators and staff at Noble would comprise the largest unionized charter school network in the country.

… Launched in 2009, Chicago ACTS is at the forefront of the movement to organize charter schools. Its members are not only winning union recognition across the city, but also showing a willingness to withhold their labor to win fair contracts, much like their counterparts in the Chicago Teachers Union. … Teachers with A Council of Educators, the Chicago ACTS affiliate at ASPIRA charter school, recently voted to strike over stalled contract negotiations and could walk off the job as soon as March 17. Last October, a planned strike by unionized teachers at UNO Charter Network Schools was only narrowly averted by a last-minute agreement. Nationally, AFT has made organizing teachers at charter schools a priority since 2007, supporting educators in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New Orleans. According to the Center for Education Reform, 10 percent of charter schools in the United States are now unionized, up from 7 percent just five years ago. …

]]>40844Teachers at Aspira charter schools set strike datehttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/teachers-at-aspira-charter-schools-set-strike-date.htm
Wed, 08 Mar 2017 21:24:06 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40824Source: Juan Perez Jr, Chicago Tribune, March 7, 2017 Unionized teachers at the city’s Aspira charter school network said Tuesday they will walk off the job late next week if they can’t reach a deal on a new contract. Labor leaders say it would be the nation’s first strike at a privately run charter […]

Unionized teachers at the city’s Aspira charter school network said Tuesday they will walk off the job late next week if they can’t reach a deal on a new contract. Labor leaders say it would be the nation’s first strike at a privately run charter school. … Union officials said teachers would walk out March 17, though Martinez said teachers still had to review and discuss a counteroffer from the charter operator this week. … Aspira operates four campuses in Chicago with an enrollment of about 1,400 students. Like other charter schools, the operation is funded by Chicago Public Schools but operates independently. Aspira’s roughly 100 educators are represented by the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, a branch of the American Federation of Teachers that oversees the city’s unionized charter school teachers. Unionized teachers negotiate with the charter operator, not CPS. … It’s the second time this school year that teachers at a charter network have threatened a strike. In October, a last-minute deal averted a walkout by teachers at the UNO Charter School Network. … The sides are scheduled to resume negotiations Thursday.

]]>40824Vouchers Are Not a Viable Solution for Vast Swaths of Americahttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/vouchers-are-not-a-viable-solution-for-vast-swaths-of-america.htm
Wed, 08 Mar 2017 20:43:49 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40822Source: Neil Campbell and Catherine Brown, Center for American Progress, March 3, 2017 President Donald Trump offered one major K-12 education proposal during the presidential campaign: a $20 billion plan that would reprioritize existing federal education funds to provide vouchers for private-school choice. … Much has been written about the devastating impact such a proposal would […]

President Donald Trump offered one major K-12 education proposal during the presidential campaign: a $20 billion plan that would reprioritize existing federal education funds to provide vouchers for private-school choice. … Much has been written about the devastating impact such a proposal would have on local communities, since $20 billion would subsume most federal K-12 education spending. … But little has been written about the fact that the proposal misses the mark when it comes to the real challenges facing the vast majority of school districts across the country. The simple fact is that most rural and suburban areas are either sparsely populated or organized in small districts where there are not enough schools for vouchers to be a viable or effective policy solution. In these districts, vouchers would be not just ineffective, but they could also dramatically destabilize public school systems and communities. … In order to examine the viability of vouchers throughout the nation, the Center for American Progress used data and visuals published by EdBuild, a national nonprofit focused on improving the way states fund public schools. The organization mapped data from the National Center for Education Statistics to visualize the density and diversity of America’s school districts. The goal was to get a handle on the number of schools in districts of varying size across the country and the locations of those districts.

… The findings underscore the severe limitations of President Trump and Secretary DeVos’ one-size-fits-all vision of nationalizing private-school vouchers. … After excluding charter schools and regional agencies that are legally considered school districts, this means that 85 percent of the 11,200 regular school districts fall into these two categories of sparse and average districts where vouchers are entirely or more than likely to be unworkable as a logistical matter. … The Trump-DeVos plan for privatizing the nation’s schools is not a workable solution in vast swaths of the country. Under the best-case scenario, this one-size-fits-all reform will have no impact on these schools. Under the worst-case scenario, it will direct funds away from public school systems, either through a new formula that advantages states that establish voucher programs or by draining students and their accompanying per-pupil allocation away from public schools. The result will be overcrowded classrooms; even more poorly paid teachers and school staff; and fewer resources for enrichment activities, school facilities, and more. …

]]>40822School vouchers are not a proven strategy for improving student achievementhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/03/school-vouchers-are-not-a-proven-strategy-for-improving-student-achievement.htm
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 19:03:11 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40788Source: Martin Carnoy, Economic Policy Institute, February 28, 2017 Betsy DeVos, the new U.S. secretary of education, is a strong proponent of allowing public education dollars to go to private schools through vouchers, which enable parents to use public school money to enroll their children in private schools, including religious ones. … This report seeks […]

Betsy DeVos, the new U.S. secretary of education, is a strong proponent of allowing public education dollars to go to private schools through vouchers, which enable parents to use public school money to enroll their children in private schools, including religious ones. … This report seeks to inform that debate by summarizing the evidence base on vouchers. Studies of voucher programs in several U.S. cities, the states of Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, and in Chile and India, find limited improvements at best in student achievement and school district performance from even large-scale programs. In the few cases in which test scores increased, other factors, namely increased public accountability, not private school competition, seem to be more likely drivers. And high rates of attrition from private schools among voucher users in several studies raises concerns. The second largest and longest-standing U.S. voucher program, in Milwaukee, offers no solid evidence of student gains in either private or public schools. In the only area in which there is evidence of small improvements in voucher schools—in high school graduation and college enrollment rates—there are no data to show whether the gains are the result of schools shedding lower-performing students or engaging in positive practices. Also, high school graduation rates have risen sharply in public schools across the board in the last 10 years, with those increases much larger than the small effect estimated on graduation rates from attending a voucher school.

… The lack of evidence that vouchers significantly improve student achievement (test scores), coupled with the evidence of a modest, at best, impact on educational attainment (graduation rates), suggests that an ideological preference for education markets over equity and public accountability is what is driving the push to expand voucher programs. Ideology is not a compelling enough reason to switch to vouchers, given the risks. These risks include increased school segregation; the loss of a common, secular educational experience; and the possibility that the flow of inexperienced young teachers filling the lower-paying jobs in private schools will dry up once the security and benefits offered to more experienced teachers in public schools disappear. The report suggests that giving every parent and student a great “choice” of educational offerings is better accomplished by supporting and strengthening neighborhood public schools with a menu of proven policies, from early childhood education to after-school and summer programs to improved teacher pre-service training to improved student health and nutrition programs. …

]]>40788After Six Years, ESA Program Still Vexed by Financial Accountabilityhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/republicans-fast-track-school-voucher-bill-in-arizona-legislature.htm
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 23:09:05 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40575Source: Don Harris And Lisa Irish, Arizona Education News Service, February 22, 2017 The Arizona Department of Education is credited with taking several steps to provide financial accountability for the state education funds provided to parents who opt their student out of public schools, but a state audit says that’s not quite enough. Since the program’s […]

The Arizona Department of Education is credited with taking several steps to provide financial accountability for the state education funds provided to parents who opt their student out of public schools, but a state audit says that’s not quite enough. Since the program’s inception, $99.7 million has been provided on personal debit cards for education related expenses through Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. About 4,102 students currently receive ESAs, and bills before Arizona’s House and Senate would expand the program to all students by 2020. Despite the improved scrutiny ESAs are receiving, examples of abuse continue to surface, like a parent who used the money she received from the state – money specifically earmarked for the education of her child – to purchase a big screen TV. … ESA supporters say the misuse of ESA funds is relatively rare, but the examples of abuse reported in the media have led to changes in how the program is managed and proposed revisions to the laws. … The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council’s draft of the “The Education Savings Account Act,” on which Arizona’s program is based, included numerous financial accountability standards, yet, legislation passed in Arizona to create ESAs included just some of them. … As concerns have mounted over the financial accountability of the ESA program, legislation was introduced this session that would give program administration, including financial management and accountability to private sector money managers. Senate Bill 1281 introduced last month by Arizona State Rep. Steve Smith, R-District 11, would let the Arizona Department of Education contract with private financial management firms to process applications, determine eligibility, administer financial transactions, and approve eligible expenses. …

The Legislature’s independent budget office estimates that expanding a school voucher program to all Arizona schoolchildren over the next four years could cost more than $24 million, a number that could go much higher. That’s because more public school students are likely to take state cash for private schools and children who never went to public schools would qualify, according to the report from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. … Republican Sen. Debbie Lesko, of Peoria, is pushing the proposal to expand what started several years ago as a small program that has since been revised to cover about 186,000 of 1.1 million public school students. Lesko has repeatedly said in recent weeks that she expects taxpayers to save money overall, and implied that the general fund cost would be minimal. … Backers argue the program gives parents choice in where to send their children. Opponents say it starves already-underfunded public schools that have to take every child that shows up while private schools can exclude more difficult or expensive students. …

Republican lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature are attempting to fast-track a plan to eventually offer vouchers to every public-school student and, in separate legislation, privatize oversight of the public money given to parents to pay private-school tuition and other expenses. The Legislature is training its sights on the plan to broaden eligibility for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, a school-choice program created six years ago for disabled children. Under the legislation, all of Arizona’s 1.1 million students would be eligible for the program by 2020. … The first hearing on the expansion bills, on Thursday, ran for hours before the Senate Education Committee passed the measure, 4-3. … Senate Republicans have also introduced another bill that would privatize oversight of the program and force the state Department of Education to deposit money into ESA accounts as soon as the parent agrees to the terms of the program. …

Arizona was the first to create an ESA program. It has since been adopted in other states, including Nevada, Florida and Mississippi. … Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program was initially created to help students with special needs get tailored therapies, educational resources and curriculum. Republican lawmakers have since expanded the program to include the children of active-duty military parents or guardians, siblings of those in the ESA program, students who attend public schools with a state grade of D and F and others. … Critics say expansion of the program would siphon away too much money from public schools, that too much money from the program is being misspent, and that the program would subsidize better-off families, while poorer families would be unable to use the program because they may not be able to afford the remaining costs of private schooling, including tuition and transportation. … Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, said the expansion of ESAs is really an attempt to privatize education. … In the Senate, where Republicans narrowly control the chamber, it is unclear if the expansion legislation will muster enough votes to advance. …

]]>40575Moratorium on charter schools heads to full Househttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/study-unclear-laws-give-new-mexico-charter-schools-funding-edge-over-public-schools.htm
Tue, 28 Feb 2017 16:16:45 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=38827Source: Andrew Oxford, The New Mexican, February 25, 2017 A committee voted along party lines Saturday to temporarily halt the creation of any new charter schools, sending the moratorium to a vote in the full House of Representatives. Backers, including teachers unions, argue House Bill 46 would allow time to develop better oversight of charter […]

A committee voted along party lines Saturday to temporarily halt the creation of any new charter schools, sending the moratorium to a vote in the full House of Representatives. Backers, including teachers unions, argue House Bill 46 would allow time to develop better oversight of charter schools and prevent new schools from drawing funding at a time when the budget for public education is already tight. But opponents, including the Public Education Department, business groups and parents with children on waiting lists for existing charter schools, argue the measure would limit options for students. … Sponsored by Rep. Christine Trujillo, D-Albuquerque, the bill is only one sentence long, stating simply that no new applications for charter schools would be accepted or approved between June 1, 2017, and Jan. 1, 2020. The bill follows a report last year by the Legislative Finance Committee that recommended additional guidelines for authorizing charter schools and a new system for funding those schools. The report found inconsistent oversight of charter schools, with charters rarely revoked, despite poor performance. … The number of charter schools around New Mexico has grown from 63 in fiscal year 2008 to 99 in fiscal year 2016, though about five are expected to soon close, according to the Legislative Finance Committee. The committee found charter schools, when compared to traditional public schools, serve a lower percentage of students who are Hispanic or economically disadvantaged. … Even if the full House of Representatives and the Senate pass Trujillo’s moratorium, it would still require the approval of Gov. Susana Martinez, whose own Public Education Department has opposed the measure.

Charter schools in New Mexico receive more funding per student than traditional public schools, in part because of unclear laws that give them an edge in squeezing out dollars from the state, a new study says. The report by the Legislative Education Study Committee and Legislative Finance Committee says charter schools on average receive about 15 percent more funding per student than regular public schools. In Albuquerque, for example, traditional public schools receive about $7,400 for each student while that city’s charter schools get about $8,700 per student. The reasons include statutory language that allows charter schools to take advantage of the state’s small-school funding formula — designed to give rural school districts adequate money to operate — and a law that lets charter schools begin new programs with funding that doesn’t require legislative approval. … Earlier this year, for example, a state audit of 55 state-chartered schools in New Mexico found many of them deficient in internal financial controls and out of compliance with some provisions of state law. Some of those problems were minor and others have already been corrected. In addition, a Legislative Finance Report earlier this year stated that while New Mexico’s charter schools only serve 7 percent of the student population, they have received 46 percent of public-school funding increases in the past seven years. National studies on charter schools say that for the most part they do not out-perform more traditional public schools in academics. Sallee told the committee that the Legislature has yet to authorize an in-depth study on this issue in New Mexico. …

Rapidly expanding charter schools in New Mexico are spending more per student with similar academic results to traditional public schools, state program analysts told lawmakers on Monday. … The study found that charter school students received $8,663 per student, while traditional district schools received $7,597, during the budget year ending June 2015. New Mexico’s charter schools have received nearly half of school funding increases since mid-2007, while serving about 7 percent of all students, the report said. … New Mexico had 97 charter schools serving about 22,000 students last year, up from 59 in 2010 and just two in 2000. That steady growth mimics the growth of nationwide attendance at charter schools, which surpasses 2.5 million students. The state evaluation raised specific concerns about costs and performance at so-called virtual charter schools that provide remote online courses. New Mexico has two virtual schools — New Mexico Connections Academy and New Mexico Virtual Academy — that both have ties to for-profit organizations.

]]>38827Teachers At A D.C. Charter School Want To Try Something New: Unionizinghttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/teachers-at-a-d-c-charter-school-want-to-try-something-new-unionizing.htm
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 15:45:19 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40727Source: Martin Austermuhle, WAMU, February 22, 2017 Advocates for public charter schools often argue they’re a better alternative to traditional public schools because charters aren’t weighed down by a central administration, school boards and a unionized workforce. But teachers at one D.C. charter school are now looking to do something that’s commonplace among their colleagues in […]

Advocates for public charter schools often argue they’re a better alternative to traditional public schools because charters aren’t weighed down by a central administration, school boards and a unionized workforce. But teachers at one D.C. charter school are now looking to do something that’s commonplace among their colleagues in D.C. Public Schools: form a union. Teachers at Paul Public Charter School in the Brightwood neighborhood of Northwest D.C. have submitted a petition to the school’s management asking that they be permitted to create a union, the District of Columbia Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff. It would be associated with the American Federation of Teachers, which represents teachers and staff at 229 charter schools in 15 states. If they succeed, it would become the first union in D.C.’s charter sector, which educates close to half of the city’s 90,000 students. Paul converted from a traditional public school to a charter school in 1999. … But any move towards unionization could face a number of challenges, both political and philosophical. Though charter schools are publicly funded, they are exempt from the D.C. law requiring the government to enter collective bargaining agreements with public employees. An organizing effort in 2012 by the Washington Teachers’ Union — which represents teachers in DCPS — fizzled due to legal and political obstacles. A decision last year from the National Labor Relations Board means the teachers’ attempt to unionize will come under the federal law that applies to private sector workers. That gives the school’s management two choices: willingly recognize the teachers’ request for a union, or call an election in which staff would have to vote on whether to unionize. …

]]>40727A new study suggests that school vouchers could actually hurt organized religionhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/the-school-choice-voucher-a-get-out-of-jail-card.htm
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 15:08:28 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=37073Source: Matthew Rosza, Salon, February 15, 2017 Although school vouchers may be a boondoggle to churches, a new study from The National Bureau of Economic Research finds that “they offer financial stability for congregations while at the same time diminishing their religious activities.” The National Bureau of Economic Research found that more than 80 percent […]

Although school vouchers may be a boondoggle to churches, a new study from The National Bureau of Economic Research finds that “they offer financial stability for congregations while at the same time diminishing their religious activities.” The National Bureau of Economic Research found that more than 80 percent of private school students in the 2011/2012 school year attended a religiously-affiliated school, with Catholicism being the most common religious affiliation. The authors studied 71 Catholic parishes in Milwaukee from 1999 to 2013. … Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on whether one believes that religious institutions should focus on religion or on making money by supplanting public schools. … “Our numbers suggest that, within our sample alone, the Milwaukee voucher program has led over time to a decline in non-educational church revenue of $60 million. These large effects are driven by the large size of the voucher program itself,” the authors wrote. …

Abstract:
Although an abundance of research indicates that private schooling can benefit individual children through higher test scores, the effects on society are less clear. We monetize and forecast the social impacts of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) in the United States. We use existing literature on the impacts of the MPCP on criminal activity and graduation rates. Between 2016 and 2035, students who use a voucher in the MPCP will generate additional economic benefits of $473 million associated with higher graduation rates, and $26 million associated with fewer felonies and misdemeanors, relative to their traditional public school peers.

Abstract:
In this report we examine crime rates for young adults who experienced Milwaukee’s citywide voucher program as high school students and a comparable group of their peers who had been public school students. Using unique data collected as part of a longitudinal evaluation of the program, we consider criminal activity by youth initially exposed to voucher schools and those in public schools at the same time. We also consider subsequent criminal activity by the students that stayed in the voucher program through 12th grade compared to those who were in public schools for the same period. We show that the mere exposure to private schooling through a voucher is associated with lower rates of criminal activity but the relationship is not robust to different analytic samples or measures of crime. We find a more consistent statistically significant negative relationship between students that stayed in the voucher program through 12th grade and criminal activity (meaning persistent voucher students commit fewer crimes). These results are apparent when controlling for a robust set of student demographics, test scores, and parental characteristics. We conclude that merely being exposed to private schooling for a short time through a voucher program may not have a significant impact on criminal activity, though persistently attending a private school through a voucher program can decrease subsequent criminal activity, especially for males.

]]>37073Lawmaker breaks ranks with charter school billhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/lawmaker-breaks-ranks-with-charter-school-bill.htm
Wed, 22 Feb 2017 18:55:54 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40710Source: Great Falls Tribune, February 18, 2017 Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder broke ranks with many of his fellow Democrats last week when he proposed establishing a statewide public charter school system through House Bill 376. He wants to start a seven-member charter school commission to oversee the new program. … Democrats are […]

Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder broke ranks with many of his fellow Democrats last week when he proposed establishing a statewide public charter school system through House Bill 376. He wants to start a seven-member charter school commission to oversee the new program. … Democrats are generally opposed to charter schools, and a policy adviser for Gov. Steve Bullock spoke against the proposal Wednesday during a hearing before the House Education Committee. The committee has not taken action on the bill yet. … Bullock said last week he has fundamental problems with charter schools, saying he was “skeptical about diverting public dollars to schools that have no accountability.” Windy Boy said in an email his bill does not divert public school funds to any religious or private schools. He said it’s a school within a school. The existing ANB (average number belonging) funding that funds students still exists and will be used to fund students in public charter schools. … The proposal could also face legal challenges. A legislative legal review raised concerns about whether the Legislature has the constitutional authority to establish a charter school commission.

]]>40710State’s 2016 Charter School Act is constitutional, judge ruleshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/parents-call-washington-charter-schools-illegal.htm
Wed, 22 Feb 2017 14:23:40 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=38946Source: Heather Bosch, KING 5, February 17, 2017 Supporters of charter schools are calling it a decisive win after a King County Superior Court judge ruled that the state’s 2016 Charter School Act, is “on it’s face,” constitutional. Plaintiffs had argued the act violated the constitution by diverting public funding to privately run charter schools […]

Supporters of charter schools are calling it a decisive win after a King County Superior Court judge ruled that the state’s 2016 Charter School Act, is “on it’s face,” constitutional. Plaintiffs had argued the act violated the constitution by diverting public funding to privately run charter schools that are unaccountable to Washington voters. But Judge John H. Chun found that the Act, itself, does not disrupt the existing public school system, divert money from public to charter schools, or deprive any Washington child of access to public schools. He noted that his ruling does not prevent lawsuits that argue the way the law is being implemented may be unconstitutional. …The state has eight charter schools that serve about 1,600 students.

In a renewed battle over charter schools, a coalition of parents, teachers, administrators and labor groups sued Washington state, claiming its Charter School Act is still unconstitutional, despite a legislative fix. Plaintiffs in the Aug. 3 complaint in King County Court include the state’s largest teachers’ union, Washington Education Association and the League of Women Voters. The state’s original Charter School Act was passed by voter referendum in 2012. Many of the same plaintiffs sued the state in 2103, and the Washington Supreme Court ruled in September 2015 that publicly funded private charter schools are unconstitutional. … In the new lawsuit, the coalition says the Charter School Act still authorizes improper transfer of public money. “Under the Act, charter schools continue to be run by and responsible to nonprofit companies and nonelected boards and, thus, are not accountable to taxpayers who provide funding for charter schools. Likewise, the Act continues the unconstitutional diversion of public funds to charter schools,” the complaint states. …

The Washington Education Association, a statewide teachers’ union, says it plans to help file a lawsuit challenging the state’s latest charter school law. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, allowed a bill that restores funding to the state’s charter schools to pass into law over the weekend without his signature. … Charter school advocates championed the bill that eventually passed, which directs charters to draw from a new funding source and layers more regulations on the schools. But the Washington Education Association, which helped spearhead the first lawsuit, said in a statement Thursday evening that there are two major flaws with the new law: It still does not require enough oversight from publicly elected officials, and it still diverts money from district schools, even though it’s drawing from a separate pool of money. The lawsuit will also ask the courts to clarify the use of Alternative Learning Experiences, programs that allow school districts to contract with outside providers to offer specialized services. Several charter schools remained open after the supreme court’s ruling as ALE programs under the Mary Walker School District in Springdale, Wash. …

]]>38946Feds cite D.C. charters for high suspension rates, particularly for black studentshttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/feds-cite-d-c-charters-for-high-suspension-rates-particularly-for-black-students.htm
Tue, 21 Feb 2017 17:05:56 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=40630Source: Joe Davidson, The Washington Post, February 14, 2017 A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says suspension and expulsion rates for charters in the capital city are double the national rate and disproportionately high for black students and those with disabilities. … When D.C. charter schools kick students out, they are not allowed to […]

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says suspension and expulsion rates for charters in the capital city are double the national rate and disproportionately high for black students and those with disabilities. … When D.C. charter schools kick students out, they are not allowed to return, the GAO reported. They generally transfer to a traditional public school. … It’s no surprise that the greater suspension and expulsion rates for charter schools fall heavily on black students. From preschool discipline and throughout the criminal justice system, studies have shown that black people are treated more harshly than white people for similar conduct. The GAO “found that the rates of suspension for Black students in D.C. charter schools were about six times higher than the rates for White students and the rates for students with disabilities were almost double the rates for students without disabilities.” …

]]>40630The School-Voucher Paradoxhttp://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/2017/02/about-the-louisiana-voucher-program-where-failure-really-is-an-option.htm
Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:45:38 +0000http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/privatizationupdate/?p=38849Source: Hayley Glatter, The Atlantic, February 15, 2017 School choice aids and abets segregation—or so goes the logic of many of the policy’s loudest critics. But a study recently published in Education and Urban Society provides evidence to the contrary: A voucher program actually reduced racial stratification in the public schools that families decided to […]

School choice aids and abets segregation—or so goes the logic of many of the policy’s loudest critics. But a study recently published in Education and Urban Society provides evidence to the contrary: A voucher program actually reduced racial stratification in the public schools that families decided to leave. The focus of the study, titled “The Impact of Targeted School Vouchers on Racial Stratification in Louisiana Schools,” is the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP), which provides state money for students to attend private schools. Researchers found that as families participated in the program, the student bodies of the public schools they opted out of began to more closely reflect the racial makeup of the school’s surrounding community. In other words, the public schools became more integrated. The findings stand apart from previous research conducted by groups like that National Education Policy Center that found many school-choice programs result in “an unsettling degree of segregation.” Patrick Wolf, one of the co-authors of the study and an education professor at the University of Arkansas, attributed the new findings to Louisiana’s demographic makeup and emphasized that the rollout and examination of school-choice programs should be “heavily context dependent.”

… Yes, the study “indicates that the vast majority (82 percent) of LSP transfers have reduced racial stratification in the voucher students’ former public schools.” The operative word in that analysis, though, is “former.” The families that used the voucher option to attend a private school facilitated integration in a public school their child would no longer attend. And, in fact, the study found that the students who used vouchers in Louisiana reduced racial stratification in the private schools they selected just 45 percent of the time: More often, Wolf said, “they actually increase the segregation in the private school … they push the student demographics of the private school further away from the ideal standards from the community.” … On top of that, early evidence on student achievement also points to negative outcomes for families that took advantage of the vouchers. …

Sure, on the whole, Louisiana’s voucher schools are flunkie, but in 2015, at a greater cost to the public than the public schools that they are trailing, voucher schools are, uh, less flunkie. Let’s look at some numbers derived from that 2016-17 voucher application data file. 7,807 students who met the qualification for income eligibility applied for vouchers in 2016-17, where income eligibility means that the household income cannot exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Of that 7,807, only 588 (7.5 percent) identified as attending a local-board-controlled public school the previous school year. So much for droves of students fleeing traditional public schools when given “choice.” …

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is looking to curb both school vouchers and charter school growth in the state. On Monday, the Democrat proposed legislation that would narrow eligibility for participation in the voucher program and make it harder to launch charter schools.